Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger Has To Be Happy With New Deal That Cowboys Gave QB Tony Romo

The Dallas Cowboys gave quarterback Tony Romo a six-year, $108 million contract extension on Friday that included $55 million in guarantees and a $25 million signing bonus, according to several media reports, and somewhere Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is celebrating the news.

So why exactly is Roethlisberger celebrating? For starters, Romo, in my opinion, is not half the quarterback that Roethlisberger is, and second, many believe that he will be in line for an extension next offseason.

To give you some comparison, Roethlisberger signed an eight-year, $102 million contract back in 2008 that reportedly included $33.2 million in guaranteed money.

So why will Roethlisberger be due an extension next offseason if he is under contract through the 2015 season? For starters, Roethlisberger\’s cap number in 2014 is scheduled to be almost $19 million. Could they restructure him once again? Sure, they could, but to save a mere $5.5 million in cap space in 2014; they would wind up pushing his 2015 cap number up to almost $24 million by doing so. That would mean that Roethlisberger, much like Romo this offseason, would have a ton of leverage to use in contract negotiations, as his side would know that the Steelers simply can\’t have him carrying that big of a cap hit in 2015.

An extension next offseason would ensure that Roethlisberger ends his career in Pittsburgh, and at the same time it would lower his 2014 cap charge in the process.

So what kind of money can Roethlisberger expect to get come next offseason, if indeed an extension is done? Despite not yet knowing the real structure of the new deal that Romo signed, you would have to think that his average yearly value, which is dangerous to use, by the way, would be the rock bottom starting point. We are also waiting to see what the new deal for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will look like as well, but you would have to figure that it will trump the six-year, $120.6 million contract that Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco signed several weeks ago. In short, it will likely be somewhere around what those two received.

Now here is some good news. Roethlisberger has one hell of a carrot hanging in front of him heading into the 2013 season. The better he plays, and the deeper the Steelers go in the playoffs, the higher the price tag goes. An average, or below average year, will likely wind up with him getting an extension closer to what Romo received. It doesn\’t matter that he has already taken the team to three Super Bowls and won two of them. That\’s in the past.

Romo will turn 33 years of age in April, while Roethlisberger celebrated his 31st birthday in March. A five-year, $110 million extension next offseason for Roethlisberger is not out of the question right now, with the amount of guaranteed money coming in somewhere around $50 million or more.

Hopefully, Ben won’t be looking to squeeze every last cent he can get and look got take more of a Brady like deal to help the team cap wise.

Brendon Glad

The owners needed me to help with their negotiations. I would have pushed for one tiny FA rule…it would have been 1 sentence long reading: During Free-agency negotiations, no agent will be allowed to use ANY contract signed by Jerry Jones, the late Al Davis, or Dan Snyder as a reference point in any contract negotiation.” Or maybe they didn’t need me. There probably wouldn’t have been a season once DeMaurice Smith read that line. Haha! Jerry Jones. It’s hard to call a billionaire an idiot, but he sure cracks the door open for it. Joe Flacco probably will fire his agent tomorrow. Romo makes Flacco look like a first-ballot HOF’ER. I don’t even want to think about Ben right now. It’s too scary.

Brendon Glad

We can only hope. I just can’t believe when some owners do things like this. Throws EVERYTHING out of whack. Why can’t they use their brains. They’ve made billions using some portion of their brains, so why not use it in football too? If Jerry Jones had a top-level executive for one of his businesses who had elite talent, good ideas, was great on the phone, but every time he went into a boardroom to close a deal he couldn’t even get his briefcase open, would he double the guy’s salary? Or fire him? He baffles me.

Brendon Glad

Tony Romo is the most over-rated player in NFL history. So I guess it only makes sense. Now he can be the most over-rated AND over-paid player in NFL history. Carson Palmer used to have him on the $$$ part. lol

Brendon Glad

Special shout-out to Albert Haynesworth…I didn’t forget about you big fella! But they got rid of you so fast that you weren’t able to mess up nearly enough seasons to qualify. Heck, you only messed up 2 Redskins seasons. Romo and Palmer could end up with 15+. Sorry, big Al…but you did cross my mind.

Pete

Nobody doubts that Haynesworth was a very disruptive interior lineman in his day. DT don’t usually collapse the pocket the way he did and get to the QB. Now having said that, what Washington did was CRAZY. Way too much money was spent on him and then they changed their D with a new coordinator to a 3-4. Haynesworth never was a 3-4 NT. He’s a 4-3 DT Don’t ask me what technique he is in the 4-3 but it’s obvious the experiment failed as he couldn’t become a 3-4 NT (nor did he want to). All that money flushed down the toilet. Man, I wish I had that kind of money to blow!

Michael Mazanowski

Ben is way better than Homo and Flacco! Damn can we afford the man?!

Michael Mazanowski

Still laughing at Cowgirls for paying Romo 108 million bc he has only won 1 playoff game! Really? Really?!

I had somehting different there but I hit the edit button because it was dirty!

Michael Mazanowski

I

NW86

Oh, those silly Cowboys…they just ensured that they will continue to be in cap hell for the rest of the decade…

NW86

LOL, I agree with the FA rule – hopefully most other team executives and player agents understand that the rule is implied anyway.

Michael Mazanowski

Amen! Or Acowboy!

Michael Mazanowski

Love

Michael Mazanowski

Pittsburgh!

Superdriller316

Romo might be taking home more money than Flacco. MD state tax is pretty high. TX doesn’t have state tax. Sucks to be Joe.

zipposteelers

Too bad they can’t make adjustments now and get back harrison. Ryan clark just said “They might be able to get a guy who puts up numbers but noone will put any fear in opponents the way harrison does” ‘QB’s have to be aware of harrison and TE and RB’s don’t like to block him…

Nolrog

The Cowboys are nothing but a toy for Jones. Much like a car might be for you and me. He’s the only one that drives the car and he decides what kind of gas to use, what kind of oil to use, how much to spend on tires, etc.

If he thought of it like a business, he’s surround himself with top football people and run it as such. Honestly, I hope he never changes. It’s such a joy to watch them implode year after year.

Nolrog

Harrison is gone. TIme to move on.

steeltown

I’ll take actual numbers (sacks, QB pressures) over “fear” of them

Brendon Glad

Yes it is, my friend, yes it is…unfortunately now he’s messing with me and my joy…the Steelers. Unless Ben does what you are hoping for. I hope that’s the case. Jerry TOTALLY messed up the QB market with that move. I wouldn’t trust Tony Romo to even hold for a place-kick in a game if it were a PLAYOFF GAME! He might even mess that up! Ba-dum…SHHHHHH!!!!!

Brendon Glad

He will be missed. I wanted them to work it out with him, and I was very glad to hear that they tried. But he refused, albeit without bitterness. The Steelers moved on and so I am too. But he will always have a special place in my heart. LOVED HIM! And that play in the SB will live forever in Steelers lore. I WON’T miss watching him never get a holding call every time he got tackled on the edge by OT’s. Maybe Worilds can “rub-them” a little better than James did.